Linguini and Clams

This dish is one of my favorites but it's kind of rich with the butter and all so I don’t make it very often. I also like a bit of kick to my food so I add crushed red peppers which you can omit if you are not the spicy type. Here is a photo of the list of ingredients minus the fresh clams since I ate them before writing this up. I used 12 littleneck clams for 2 people and one can of whole clams with the juice. The photo shows minced and you can use that too. The canned whole clams were eaten too before I wrote this so I threw the can out.  Hey, you still get the idea.  Damn! People can be so fussy.  Good thing I'm a Kitchen Bitch.

(I need to blog before I cook I guess cuz I keep eating and tossing everything I need in the photos)

Naturally you need linguini so I didn’t think I had to take a picture of that for you just like I’m not going to take a picture of me burping after this great meal!

First heat up your skillet till its pretty hot add about 1 Tbsp of the canola or olive oil and 2 Tbsp butter. Immediately toss in the minced garlic. I love garlic so I use about 2 large cloves minced. Once the garlic fragrance hits your nose pour in the clam juice and about a 1/3 cup of vermouth and let it all simmer till it is reduced by half. Toss in the canned clams and juice and then the real clams if you have them and cover and steam until the clams open, then cook uncovered for another couple minutes.

In the meanwhile I hope you had the sense to cook your linguini already because you need it now. Add the drained cooked linguini to the clammages in the skillet and heat through till most of the liquid is cooked down and absorbed.  There should be some liquid in it though so don't boil it all away. You also should have put a lot of salt in the boiling water for the linguini so you shouldn’t need to add any extra salt in the end. If you want to tart it up add a couple squeezes of lemon juice instead.

In the bowl I plan on using for the linguini I usually add more fresh minced garlic (b/c I love it so much) on the bottom then I add the hot pasta, toss and decorate it all nicely with the fresh clams and add some minced parsley to beautify it before serving. The parsley also keeps garlic breath at a standstill in case you have a hot date.

I know its crazy but I like to put some parmesan cheese on top of my linguini and clams too. I eat the way I like! However, now that I ate so much it's affecting the way my clothes are fitting (or not fitting) so I'm going to sing that old tune "...its diet time again, I'm gonna lose you.."  fooey.  I wish I didn't care so much about fitting into my clothes!!  Goodbye ice cream after dinner.  So long my little cookie friends.  I'm already missing my melted cheeses...   waa.

Weight Gain

Good Day Class:

Today the topic of our study is Weight Gain.  10 little letters, when put together just like the title spell Misery, Anger and a Killer Attitude (not the good kind).

I would much rather gain weight eating than anything else but the doctor put me on some medication that is increasing my weight.  That doc's gotta go!  Below is a self portrait (not really me cuz my room doesn't look like that).

I've cut back eating one meal a day so I can stay put inside my old worn out clothes which means that I'm cooking less and therefore no food blog today.  I stopped eating breakfast, or I just pushed breakfast up to 11pm so it takes care of bkfst and lunch at one time.  I'm keeping dinner sacred.  I have to keep an eagle eye on my weight since my stretch pants only stretch so far.  Here's my new scale to keep me on my toes so to speak...

The whole weight gain thing has me sad and mad.  Makes me wanna eat but I've got to get busy losing the 7 pounds I've gained so far.  I want Rocky Road ice cream.  I want that chocolate cake they sell at Costco. I want a polish hot dog.  I want Mayonnaise!

Kitchen Chack-a-torry

That's what I call this recipe.  Its not the basic Chicken Cacciatorie but a little twist and then spin on that recipe.

Here's what when on.  Chicken leg quarters were on sale so I bagged a grip of them.  I used only two here since there is one for each serving. 

1/3 chopped onion

2 generous cloves of garlic

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 chicken leg quarters

1/3 cup red wine

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (more if you like)

1 can diced tomatoes

1 dozen kalamata olives chopped in thirds

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/3 package bowtie pasta

First heat your skillet up dry on medium high heat (no oil yet) till hot, then add the oil and onions and sautee them till the onions are soft.  Add the garlic and cook till fragrant then remove these from the skillet and set aside.  Add the chicken to the skillet and brown on both sides till golden on med-low heat.  Remove the chicken from heat and set aside.  Add the wine to the skillet to deglaze and cook until reduced by 1/2.  Add the mushrooms and cook then add the tomatoes, the onion and garlic mix, the olives and basil and cook on medium for about 5 minutes.  Add the chicken with any juices back into the skillet and cook all over low heat for about 15-20 minutes.  You can take the chicken out at this point and debone it or not.  Up to you.  Come on, be a nice guy and do it.

Meanwhile you gotta cook the pasta.  Always add a heavy hand of salt to the boiling water then add the pasta and cook about 10 minutes or until done the way you like it.  Add the drained pasta to the chicken and there ya go!  Dinner.  Its really good if you like kalamata olives.  I do!!

Play With Your Food!

If you are going to serve fruit to guests then you might as well 'play with it first'.  Buy an inexpensive book on fruit carving.  It's relatively easy and very impressive.  It just takes a little initiative to be more than you can be.  Something like that.  (what I keep telling myself)

I made this fruit platter simply for the challenge of making a Duck out of a Cantaloupe!  It was fun and I loved the result.  Give it a try.

Something to keep you happy during a snowstorm.  Something like that.  Next I may show you how I made a flower out of blistering hot melted sugar.  Ouch!  I like the flower but the blisters on the fingers hurt.  Bye!